'We weren't leaving': Next-door neighbor to inferno shares story

Updated 11:12 pm, Wednesday, October 31, 2012

And the mood, well, it will never be like it was before Hurricane Sandy.

All around Sadik-Khan is destruction, not from wind or water, but from a ferocious fire that wiped out three of her neighbors' homes on Binney Lane Monday night in Old Greenwich.

"I'm looking at enormous piles of rubble and I'm here. It's so heartbreaking," Sadik-Khan told Greenwich Time Wednesday. "I never associated fire with a hurricane. Now I do."

Well known throughout the community for her work on the Representative Town Meeting and the Junior League of Greenwich, Sadik-Khan, 67, has weathered her share of hurricanes and nor'easters.

So when Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the town ordered a mandatory evacuation of her neighborhood prior to Sandy, Sadik-Khan dug in.

After all, she's lived in the private enclave on Long Island Sound for 38 years.

Photo: Bob Luckey

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Sitting at her Kitchen table by candle light, Old Greenwich resident Karen Sadik-Khan said "we were the lucky ones," Wednesday Night, Oct. 31, 2012, reflecting on the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy to her neighbors on Binney Lane where three homes were destroyed by fire. less

Sitting at her Kitchen table by candle light, Old Greenwich resident Karen Sadik-Khan said "we were the lucky ones," Wednesday Night, Oct. 31, 2012, reflecting on the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy to ... more

Sitting at her Kitchen table by candle light, Old Greenwich resident Karen Sadik-Khan, left, discusses with her son, Altan, the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy to their Binney Lane neighborhood,

Old Greenwich resident Karen Sadik-Khan, left, and her son, Altan, discard storm debris wrought by Hurricane Sandy at their Binney Lane home, Wednesday night, Oct. 31, 2012. Three homes on Binney Lane burned to the ground during the storm but Miraculously the Sadik-Khan home was spared. less

Conn. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy released aerial photographs taken by the Connecticut National Guard on Tuesday during the Guard s aerial assessment of Hurricane Sandy dam. This image shows the aftermath of a house fire on Binney Lane in Old Greenwich. less

Conn. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy released aerial photographs taken by the Connecticut National Guard on Tuesday during the Guard s aerial assessment of Hurricane Sandy dam. This image shows the aftermath of a house ... more

Photo: Photos By CT National Guard

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The aftermath of a house fire at 44 Binney Lane in Old Greenwich, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 30, 2012, the day after Hurricane Sandy hit in Old Greenwich.

The aftermath of a house fire at 44 Binney Lane in Old Greenwich, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 30, 2012, the day after Hurricane Sandy hit in Old Greenwich.

Photo: Bob Luckey

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The aftermath of a house fire at 44 Binney Lane in Old Greenwich, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 30, 2012, the day after Hurricane Sandy hit in Old Greenwich.

The aftermath of a house fire at 44 Binney Lane in Old Greenwich, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 30, 2012, the day after Hurricane Sandy hit in Old Greenwich.

Photo: Bob Luckey

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The aftermath of a house fire at 36 Binney Lane in Old Greenwich, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 30, 2012, the day after Hurricane Sandy hit in Old Greenwich.

The aftermath of a house fire at 36 Binney Lane in Old Greenwich, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 30, 2012, the day after Hurricane Sandy hit in Old Greenwich.

Photo: Bob Luckey

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The aftermath of a house fire at 36 Binney Lane in Old Greenwich, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 30, 2012, the day after Hurricane Sandy hit in Old Greenwich.

The aftermath of a house fire at 36 Binney Lane in Old Greenwich, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 30, 2012, the day after Hurricane Sandy hit in Old Greenwich.

Photo: Bob Luckey

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'We weren't leaving': Next-door neighbor to inferno shares story

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"This house has been through the 1938 hurricane," said Sadik-Khan, who was home with her son and his girlfriend during Sandy.

Sadik-Khan's step-daughter, who was raised in the same house, is New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.

The elder Sadik-Khan piled sand bags outside her cherished home, where she hunkered down with loved ones, including a dog and a parrot.

"They begged us to leave," Sadik-Khan said. "I had made it clear to the police and fire department that we weren't leaving."

Sadik-Khan's home is 200 feet away at the most from 45 Binney Lane, where fire officials say the inferno originated. There was no loss of life in the blaze, which caused minor injuries to one firefighter and is still under investigation.

Around 6 p.m., the call came in from the couple next door, who Sadik-Khan said smelled smoke and contacted the fire department.

"Who would have ever thought that their house would have burned down in an hour?" Sadik-Khan said.

Public safety brass on Wednesday released stunning video footage of the blaze, which showed firefighters cornered between the untameable inferno and the pounding surf of Long Island Sound.

The flames and shower of molten embers spread to the abutting homes at 36 and 44 Binney Lane that were destroyed, as well as a standalone garage. Their owners had already evacuated.

About a dozen people were rescued from Binney Lane by firefighters, who were recognized by the governor as heroes.

"It's a firebomb," Sadik-Khan said. "The heat on the windows on the side of my house was of great concern to me."

Despite a fire hydrant right outside her property, Sadik-Khan said it was rendered useless during the emergency, as there was no water pressure because of a power loss at the nearest pump station.

With the storm surge encroaching on her house and winds in excess of

80 miles per hour fanning the flames, Sadik-Khan was finally convinced to evacuate, along with her family and pets. She drove out with an escort from first responders, who welcomed Sadik-Khan to the Sound Beach firehouse before she eventually stayed with friends.

"All the houses were in danger on Binney Lane," Sadik-Khan said.

According to Sadik-Khan, the fire started on the second floor of her neighbors' home and was electrical in nature, perhaps started after water got into a wall socket or wiring.

When she was finally allowed to return to her home at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sadik-Khan's garage was flooded by three feet of salt water that totaled three cars. A furnace sustained some water damage.

Her loss paled in comparison to the surrounding homes, she said.

"It's unimportant," Sadik-Khan said. "The wind was blowing this blast. For some act of God, it did not change direction. We watched something that I'll never forget."

Sadik-Khan tried as best as she could to console her neighbor.

"They're trying to keep it together," she said.

A special visitor ironically came to Sadik-Khan's home at lunchtime Tuesday -- the governor.

With his security detail and the media in tow, Malloy surveyed the collateral damage from Sandy on Binney Lane, part of a multi-town tour the day after the storm.

"I spoke to him, shook his hand," Sadik-Khan said. "I thanked him for the good work he had done on television."

During a news conference later in the day, Malloy cited Sadik-Khan, though not by name, as an example of someone who could have been trapped in the flood zone because of her decision to stick it out during the storm.

The flood zone was a fire zone, however.

"I think people should heed advice to evacuate," Sadik-Khan said Wednesday.